The Blaze Chronicles: A Hero's Beginnings
by Blaze1616
Summary: A boy named Blaze sets off on a journey with some newly made friends. Together, his friends, his pokemon, and he himself, will have adventures against evil which no one had ever dreamed of! Rated T for language and sexual themes.
1. The First Day

Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The First Day**_

Flames cover the field, smoke making it impossible to see the outcome of that last amazing attack. Slowly but surely the smoke begins to clear. The aftermath is total destruction. Two Pokémon lay on the field. One resembling an orange dragon with a long neck, sharp fangs, wings sprouting from its back, a torso with arms and legs, and very sharp claws. The other seeming like a red, overgrown, human-like chicken, with bulked up leg muscles and arms. Charizard and Blaziken both seemed out for the count, laying in the middle of the wasteland that was once a Johto League stadium battlefield. The audience in the surrounding seats were quiet with all eyes on the two Pokémon. The judge raises a green flag in his left hand, a red in his right. He opens his mouth to declare the battle a draw, when both Pokémon move their arms. A soft gasp comes from the crowd as both Blaziken and then Charizard rise to their feet. Panting, the two Pokémon glare at each other.

"Charizard!" calls the trainer to the left of the judge.

"Blaziken!" calls the trainer on the right of the judge.

"Use Flamethrower!" they called together. Responding to their trainer's calls, both Charizard and Blaziken leaned their heads back, before pushing them forward with mouths wide open, orange and red flames bursting out of them both. The flames shot right for each other, both red hot steaming trains ready to crash. The flames collided, bursting out in a huge explosion, covering the field with smoke once more. The crowd burst into cheers as the battle continued, but became silent once more as the suspense was too great for some to handle.

Once again the smoke began to clear, and once it did, both Pokémon were laying on the ground again. The judge raised the flags again, but before he could declare the draw, Charizard began to move again. Following suit, Blaziken began making his way to his feet. Blaziken made it up first, and the battle's continuation depended on Charizard now. Grunting as it rose, Charizard got to his feet. Smirking as he stood, his face was suddenly distorted with pain as he fell over again. The crowd erupted once again, this time not stopping, as the judge raises only the red flag this time.

"Charizard is unable to battle! Harrison and his team win!" Harrison pulls out a pokéball, a ball with it's top being red, and bottom being white, with a gray line cutting the ball in half down the middle and a button in the center, and points it at his Blaziken. A red beam shot out of the small button as the ball opens. The red beam hits Blaziken, and the Pokémon's body is engulfed in red light. Blaziken's form then shrinks into the beam as it recedes back into the ball. The pokéball then shuts, and Harrison presses the button. The ball shrank to the size of a nutshell, and he attached it to his belt.

Harrison walked across the field to his opponent, who had called back their fainted Charizard. Harrison outstretched his right hand. "You and your Pokémon fought well. I was biting my nails at the end there. Well fought, Ash."

* * *

A loud, annoying noise blared into his ears. _How I hate mornings_ he thought to himself. Opening his eyes, his eye lids felt kind of crusty, so he wiped the sleep from them. Staring up at the ceiling, he sighed.

"Time to get moving," he motivated himself, "Today is the day!" The world seemed to spin as he rolled over. The blaring noise was his alarm clock. Reaching out with his hand, he turned the noise off, a sudden quiet rushing into his ears now. Taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, he sat up and from there stood. Stretching his arms and legs, he yawned.

Looking at himself in the mirror on his closet door, he smirked. His auburn hair sitting on his head, cut to just the right length at his ears. It hung a little over his forehead, concealing most of it. Making last changes to his hair, his brown eyes gazed back at him, a fiery passion burning in them for what was to be, in his mind, the greatest adventure yet.

Letting his eyes fall down his image, he saw a good looking boy. He was a skinny boy, with enough muscle to make him a decent size. Weighing in at 152 lbs., he formed a fist with his hands, watching as the muscles rippled under the skin as he did so. Releasing the tight grip, he examined his shirt. It was black, with the edged along the holes of the sleeves and the bottom torso hole being designed with flames, no larger than four inches. Over that, he had a red vest with two breast pockets, and two pockets for his hands at the sides. Continuing down, he had some dark blue jeans on. They were a five pocket pair of jeans, two pockets near his waist in the front, two in the back, and then the fifth down on the side of his thigh. His shirt went down to the tip of his pockets, and fit him perfectly, not too tight, not too loose, as did his jeans. Lifting the bottom of his shirt up a bit, he examined his only belt, a black one, with the buckle shaped like a pokéball. Lowering the shirt, he continued his examination as his eyes fell down to his shoes. They were tennis shoes. With a white bottom made of traction material, the top was red, and the sides were also red. A single white line ran along the sides of the shoe, making a symmetrical design, and met in the back of the angle, right behind the Achilles tendon. Where the lines met in the back, they formed a circle, which had a pokéball inside it. The pant legs of his jeans fell down over the red shoelaces, and the back stopped just short of the bottom edge of the shoes. Lifting the legs up a little, he saw the white socks that were concealed underneath.

Bringing his eyes back up to his face and letting his pant legs fall again, he grinned. Turning around and grabbing a hat off of his bedside table, he placed it on his head. It was a biking cap given to him by his father, who was off somewhere in the world with his Pokémon, having decided to become better friends with them so that he could win the family a bunch of money. _At least Mom is okay with it. He hasn't been gone too long either._ Glancing at the calendar, he let out a soft sigh. _It's only been eighteen months. At least we have enough money to be doing well enough without Mom having to get a job yet._

Fixing the cap, he softly smile at the sight of him with his dad's biking cap on again. It was an auburn color, the same as his hair, and didn't have much depth in the front, but gained some the farther you went to the back. On the top rested two lenses of the goggles that were attached to the hat by an elastic, black band.

Taking one last look in the mirror, he figured that this was as ready as he was going to get. With two identical shirts, two more pairs of jeans, and everything else he'd need in his pack, which was black except at the buckle, which was a pokéball as well, he slung it over his shoulders. The black pack wasn't too large, smaller than even the normal backpack. It was more of a sack with two straps strung up in it so it could be placed over someone's shoulders. Nodding at his image, he opened the door of his room and headed for the living room.

"Honey?! Are you ready yet?" The sound of the sweet voice was carried through the air up to his ears. That voice was the one that helped him sleep as a child, and comforted him after nightmares as a kid. That voice was the one who greeted him every time he walked in the door, and said its goodbyes whenever he would leave.

"Yeah Mom, I'm ready." Trotting down the steps that made the staircase to the second floor, his house opened up to him. Walking around a sofa, and dodging a coffee table, he walked under an archway that put him in the kitchen. The sweet aroma of a sausage omelet greeted his nose, making him smile. "My favorite," he told to a woman who had her back to him. She had flowing, red hair that fell down to her mid-back. Taking a seat at a table, he saw the picture of the three of them, his mom, dad, and himself. His dad had brown hair, and brown eyes.

"Yes, I cooked it on purpose, for that reason, since this'll be one of the last days you'll be eating a breakfast cooked by your mother." As she turned with the plate with the omelet in her hands, she softly gasped to herself as she put the plate down in front of him. "Blaze, you look so much like your father with that hat on. It reminds me of the time when-"

"Mom, I've heard these stories about a hundred times each."

"Oh, get over it," she playfully tapped him, "They are stories of your father, can't I remember the past? Besides, you're going away on your own Pokémon adventure today, and I won't have a man around the house anymore!" She turned her back on him again as she went to the sink., turning the faucet on to wash some dishes. "It's gonna be weird not having you around, Blaze. I'm gonna miss you!" A few tears welled up in her eyes.

"Mom, I told you, you should get a Pokémon for yourself! It could help you around the house! It would be like I never even left."

"Oh, poo on you. I guess it isn't a bad idea, but it still wouldn't be the same."

"Ash's mom has a Mr. Mime! Maybe you could get one! Or maybe a Chansey! I hear that Nurse Joy use Chansey all over the world!"

"You really idolize Ash Ketchum, don't you, Blaze? He's all you've talked about the last couple of days."

"He's the greatest trainer in all of Kanto, and he's from Pallet Town! That's just north of here!"

"Yeah, it's a ferry ride away. That's where your father went with his bike and Pokémon, you know."

"Yeah, you only tell me everyday," Blaze laughed a bit at this, his mother chiming in too.

"What time does your ticket say your ferry is leaving?" His mother asked.

"Ten. I should be heading out then. I don't want to miss this, since you've made me wait till I'm sixteen to start my journey." Blaze glared at his mother in a joking manner.

"A boy shouldn't be traveling around at the age of ten," she argued, "Even with Pokémon, it's unsafe! What would happen if you get severely injured? What could your Pokémon do to help you?"

"They can get help, you know. They are intelligent creatures," Blaze argued back.

"Yes, I know they are, but they can only get help if you can get them out of your Pokéballs." Sighing, she decided to give up, knowing it was no use. Blaze loved his father's Pokémon, and had a close bond with them. "You should probably be going, dear."

"Yeah. Thanks for the final breakfast mom." Standing and pushing his chair in, he walked up to his mother and kissed her on the cheek. Hugging her, he slowly let go, knowing that this would be the last time he'd see her in person for some time.

Walking for the door, he stopped in the doorway with the door open. The warm breeze from the volcano and the sea can blowing in, giving the house a pleasant smell. "Be careful and safe, Blaze!" his mother called.

"I will mom. I'll call you everyday, whether from a PokéCenter phone, or a roadside one, I will call you! Bye!"

"Bye," she said softly to herself, wiping a tear from her eye before going back to the chores she was doing.

Letting the door close behind him, he was standing on his porch. Looking away from the house, he saw a beach only a few yards away. The waves were crashing onto the beach that belonged to his family. Thinking back to his father, he smiled again. _Dad loved Pokémon of the Fire and Water types. As for me, I like Fire. _Taking a few steps off of his porch, he began following a stone path that led to the road out in front of his beachside house. The refreshing breeze blew against his body as he walked, the palm trees blowing in the wind. Walking down the road, Blaze passed all the familiar sites of which he wouldn't see until his return visit.

After he was pretty far out, he turned to look back, his house just visible among the other buildings. Sighing, he turned again and continued into the center of town. As he passed through, many people smiled at him, called to him by name, waved, and wished him luck. Thanking them all, he'd smile and wave back.

It took him twenty minutes before the busy town began to fall away. It was at the edge of town that he saw the clock tower. Behind it, was the official Pokémon League Gym, with the Gym Leader inside awaiting challengers. _I'll be back, and I'll take you down! That's a promise!_ Blaze's eyes were fiery once again as he promised himself this, as well as the Leader of the Gym.

Crossing the edge of town, he saw the ferry in the distance at the dock. "Well, that's my ride to Pallet Town," he told himself. Reaching back into the side pocket of his pack, he pulled out a red plastic tube. It had a button on the front which kept the two sides from separating, an identical button on the back. Unsnapping the buttons, he pulled the two red pieces apart horizontally, and a map unfolded in front of him. "The ferry should get me to Pallet Town by midday tomorrow." He took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. Looking back at the island again, a sad smile spread across his face. "I'll see you later, Cinnabar!" Turning back towards the ferry, he jogged off to it. _My journey has just begun!_


	2. A New Game for a New Name

Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

_**A New Game for a New Name**_

The ride to Pallet Town was a decent one. When Blaze first got on board, it was very boring. He sat in his room, laying on the bed, staring up at nothing, really. He day dreamed about how the next day would be, and of how his travels would be. He saw a lot of red hot battles, taking on Gyms, beating everyone with whom he'd make eye contact. He'd beat them all, become the best trainer in Kanto, and then he'd take on Ash. It was his dream to meet Ash Ketchum. The boy was getting quite famous. _I might even meet Ash in Pallet Town! _ he thought. _It would be great. I could spend the day with him, and he could give me pointers on being a trainer, and we could train together! I could even meet some of his Pokémon! That'd be amazing! To meet Pikachu, Ash's Pikachu! The Pokémon that he started with!_ The thought gave him chills.

He had gotten restless at some point and went out on deck. There were trainers and their Pokémon everywhere. It was glorious, magnificent, incredible, amazing, unlike anything he had ever seen before. Blaze walked around and just examined everyone. Some were giving their Pokémon pep talks, others just relaxing with their Pokémon. This ferry ride to Pallet Town now seemed more like a cruise.

Eventually night had hit them and everyone retired to their rooms. Blaze had been unable to sleep though. It was his first night away from home, and he was excited to be meeting Professor Oak the next day. During the night, Blaze could also hear some Pokémon out in the water. This gave him the chills, because unlike the Pokémon that were on the deck with their trainers, these ones were wild. They were free game to any trainer who wanted them.

Morning came and Blaze just wandered aimlessly around the boat. Again, there wasn't much to do. Since it was morning, most of the trainers weren't out and about, and Blaze couldn't see any wild Pokémon in the water. When they were nearing Pallet Town, butterflies grew in his stomach. _It's almost time,_ he thought to himself, _Just a little longer!_

Finally the trip came to an end. Racing away from the docks, he found himself in the middle of the town. Unfortunately for Blaze, his map was one of the Kanto region, and not of individual roads. Knocking on a few doors, he eventually got pointed in the right direction.

_This place is very hilly. There isn't terrain like this on Cinnabar! And how far out is this lab! I've been walking down this path for fifteen minutes!_ Taking a deep breath and sighing it away, he tried to see what was up ahead, but all he could see was more hills. _Damn hills. I hate hills._ Bowing his head, he stared at the ground as he continued on. _This wouldn't be so bad if I had my Pokémon already. I just want this adventure to start. I want to be going somewhere that will bring me closer to my first badge!_

Bicycles blew past him, disrupting his train of thought. _What the-?_ It was a line of six or seven, the riders seeming to be racing. A horrible thought occurred to Blaze. _What if they're going to Professor Oak's lab too? What if they take all of the Pokémon he has and I have to wait until next year?! I have to hurry!_ Breaking into a run, he felt the wind sharply hit his face.

Blaze was in good shape, and was quite fast, but he was no match for the speed of the bikes, especially going down hill. Stopping for a breather at the top of a hill, he saw how the land just seemed to roll on forever. He also caught a glimpse of the lab a ways out. _Great, it's so far! They'll beat me, and I will have to wait. I might as well go back home._ Turning around, he stopped, for a girl about his age was standing there staring at him. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Looking her up and down, she was a cute girl. She had blue hair. It wasn't a dark blue though, like how most people die their hair. This blue was bright and vibrant, and stuck out to the eyes. Her hair was pushed back by a white band that she tied around her head, the hair hanging down to her shoulders. Her shirt was a dark, navy blue. In big, bold, white lettering, it read "I LOVE POKéMON." Over the shirt she had a jacket. It was black, with two blue stripes going down the sleeves, and in between them was a white stripe. On her wrists were two bracelets, one on each wrist. They were both blue, one light, and one dark. She also wore a jean skirt that went down to her mid-thighs. They had pockets in the front, and Blaze assumed in the back too. Down on her feet she had white socks on, and a pair of tennis shoes. They were white, with a thin, blue line circling the bond between the bottom and top of the shoe. As his eyes traced up her body again, he slowly took in her curves. She was quite skinny, but big enough to not be labeled anorexic or bulimic. His eyes fell on her chest for a few split seconds, taking note of the size. He could fit one in his hand, he guessed, but quickly shook it off as she spoke, obviously having caught his eyes.

"You're out of breath. Were you trying to catch up to those bikers?" Her voice was sweet, and even though it seemed a little agitated from having seen his wandering gaze, she had a cute smile on her luscious face.

Blaze was almost in awe at how pretty she was. Opening his mouth to speak, nothing came out at first, but he managed to croak, "Well, yeah."

"Why?" she questioned. "You have no reason, unless you're an athlete too."

"An athlete? Aren't they going to Professor Oak's?"

"Why, no! They're practicing. They always practice. Participating in the marathon is what they live for. They ride, swim, and run around Kanto all the time! They just happen to be in Pallet town right now. Where are you from?"

Blaze was shocked._ They aren't going to Professor Oak's? I wasted my time running then? Damn it!_ "Oh, uh, I'm from Cinnabar Island. I've never seen athletes go there."

"Well, duh! That's an obvious! To go through Cinnabar, you'd have to start either here in Pallet Town, or in Fuchsia City! Then you'd swim to Cinnabar, and then around to the other town! In doing so, you pass by the Seafoam Islands, and as any Kanto resident should know, the Seafoam Caves are very cold and icy, which means that the surrounding water is as well. No marathon athlete wants to swim in waters colder than they have to!" She said it all with a smile on her face, as if this was common knowledge to anyone. Blaze was flabbergasted.

"Ugh, right," he mumbled, "Well, I guess that's a good thing then, I don't have to rush!" Turning back, he took a few steps before interrupted again.

"Wait! You aren't going to ask me my name?" the girl inquired, not having moved.

"Ugh, okay…What's your name? Mine is Blaze, and I'm from Cinnabar Island. I'm here in Pallet Town to get my very own Pokémon and to start a journey around Kanto!" As he went on, he raised his voice some, showing pride.

The girl giggled. "My name is Wavery. I'm also headed to Professor Oak for my first Pokémon. I'm from Saffron City!" She seemed cheery, and excited.

Blaze eyed her some. "I'm going to take on the Kanto Gym challenge and then take on the Indigo League."

"Wow," she said, "You've got big dreams for a boy who doesn't even have his first Pokémon!" She laughed some. "As for me, I'm going to take on the Catching Contests that are spread around Kanto. Then, I'm going to take on Master Hall!"

Blaze had no idea what she was talking about, but she seemed intent on it. "What the Hell is a Catching Contest?"

Wavery seemed appalled at the fact that he didn't know what a Catching Contest was. "You mean you don't know?!" She gasped before and after she spoke. "Catching Contests are only the biggest new trend of the Pokémon world!" The fact that Blaze still had a dumbfounded look on his face made her shake her head. "In a Catching Contest, a trainer must first track down a Catching Hall. Each Catching Hall sponsors it's own specialty in Pokémon type. The type that the Catching Hall sponsors is the type that trainers will catch inside.

"Trainers then must compete against one another to catch the best Pokémon within the Hall's stadium. Each stadium is built to support the Pokémon of the sponsored type. The caught Pokémon are scored based on rarity and size. For instance, if two trainers both caught a Rattata, the larger Rattata would win. Trainers are also allowed to bring one of their Pokémon into the stadium with them. Is this making sense, Blaze?"

"Yeah, yeah, and it sounds cool!" Blaze was smiling. In truth, it did sound cool.

"Yes, well, it is cool. Anyways, a Trainer can only catch one Pokémon per contest. If a trainer catches a second Pokémon, the first one must be released back into the stadium. A Catching Contest lasts for a maximum of one hour, and after the hour is up, all trainers must return to the entrance, whether they caught a Pokémon or not.

"The winner of the Catching Contest gets multiple prizes. First, obviously, they get to keep their Pokémon, but at the same time every trainer gets to keep the Pokémon they caught, whether they win or lose. Second, the trainer gets a pokéball badge. Every badge is exactly alike, from every Catching Hall, except for that each Catching Hall adds a symbol that represents the type that they sponsor. For example, a fire type sponsored Hall would give me a pokéball badge with a flame on the red half of the ball. The third prize is that they get one pokéball badge tally to the three needed to enter the Master Hall."

Wavery's eyes sparkled at the mention of this Master Hall. "Is the Master Hall like the Indigo Plateau for Catching Contest trainers?" Blaze was curious now.

"Why, yes, of course. You need three wins at Catching Halls around the region to be able to enter. You probably think three isn't enough, compared to the eight Gyms you'll have to defeat." Blaze nodded in response. "Well," she continued, "you must understand that each Contest holds around thirty to forty contestants, and that in each stadium, even though the Hall only holds one type, each stadium has Pokémon from around the world, not just Kanto-native Pokémon. Oh, and by the way, we Catching Contest trainers are referred to as Pokémon Catchers."

The whole situation sounded great. Sure, it must be hard to win any single Catching Contest, but you have an hour to find the rarest Pokémon in the building! _It sounds easy, but it probably isn't…_ Blaze was lost in thought when a question occurred to him. "Is there an audience for the Catching Contests?"

Wavery laughed. "Of course! Each trainer is followed closely by a camera, and each catcher has his or her own television displaying their progress."

"But you said there could be thirty to forty catchers in one contest at a time."

"I did, but you must understand that once a Hall reaches their T.V. screen limit, they stop accepting trainers, who have to come back the next month for the next contest if they don't make it on time."

"It must suck if you miss the list by one or two names," Blaze stated, "since you're rejected."

Wavery nodded. "Even though this has been a fun chat, we should probably get moving towards the lab." Blaze knew she was right. Turning on his heels again, they set out for Oak's lab.

Following the path over the hills again, the two soon found themselves upon a large building with a domed top. In the background, behind the building, there were many fields with fences and Pokémon walking around. "I guess this is the place," Blaze said, looking at Wavery before walking through the front gates and up to the door.

Knocking, both teens took in a deep breath as the door opened and an old man's face poked out. He had gray hair and his face was littered with wrinkles. "Hello," he spoke cheerily, his voice friendly and inviting, "You two must be here for your Pokémon! I was expecting you!" Blaze and Wavery nodded and then glanced at each other, confused of how the old man knew they were coming. "I'm Professor Oak, and I reside here in my lab, caring for the Pokémon of trainers who make their starts here." Opening the door, he let the two walk in and wipe their shoes off.

Blaze finally got a good look of the Professor, who was a bit taller than he was, and wore a purple shirt tucked into some khaki dress pants and a white lab coat over it all. Entering the building, it wasn't as large as it looked outside, obviously having floors above. Looking over to his sides, he saw a few aides of the professor's walking around. They were all wearing black pants and shirts with white lab coats, except for one. He was off in the far side of the building. He was tall, wore a green shirt, and had black hair. He was talking to a boy in a black jacket with a black hat on. Blaze pointed to them, "Who are they?"

Oak looked over to them. "Those two? Ah, don't worry about them. They don't affect you in any way." As they walked, Oak led them into a room. "Do you two know what Pokémon are?" They nodded. "Do you know of the Pokémon League Challenge?" They nodded again. "Would the better question be whether you have any questions?"

Blaze smirked. "Yes, it would be the better question, and I don't have any." Looking to Wavery, she agreed with Blaze.

"Well, then, let's get you your Pokémon!" Opening a door that was to the left of them, a small room opened up to them. Once the light was switched on, they say this machine. It looked like an incubator, but instead of holding an egg, it held three pokéballs. "Okay, your choices are between Charmander, the fire type, Squirtle, the water type, and Bulbasaur, the grass and poison type. Who's choosing first, since you got here at the same time?"

Blaze looked to Wavery. "You go."

Wavery stared back. "You sure?" With a nod from Blaze, Wavery took a deep breath. "God, it's so hard to choose! I mean, Charmander is a strong and fierce Pokémon to have on your team, Bulbasaur is dual types, giving it some extra advantages and weaknesses, and then Squirtle is of the water type, which gives me access to areas that require water travel." As she listed these off, Oak nodded in agreement with her statements. "Oh, jeez, I guess I'll go with my favorite type. I choose Squirtle."

Blaze had been holding his breath, praying that she didn't choose the one he wanted. Letting it out and quickly taking in as much oxygen as possible, he caught his breath. In the meantime, Professor Oak was grabbing Squirtle's pokéball and giving it to Wavery. When he turned to Blaze, Blaze answered without needing to be asked. "I want Charmander."

"He's yours," Oak smiled, grabbing Charmander's pokéball and handing it over. Blaze grinned, holding the ball firmly in his hand. Glancing over to Wavery, he smiled, throwing the ball into the air.

"GO CHARMANDER!"


	3. A Journey's Beginning

Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

_**A Journey's Beginning**_

Red light struck the air as it shot to the ground, forming the body of what looked like a two foot lizard. The red light eventually faded off the Pokémon, rushing back into the ball. Once the light was back in, the red and white pokéball shut and fell back into Blaze's hand, where he pressed the button to shrink the ball, and then put it on his belt.

The Pokémon looking up at Blaze and had, indeed, a lizard body. Standing upright on it's hind legs, Charmander had orange skin with a tan belly and under-tail. It's feet had claws sticking out, and it's short arms had smaller claws as well. The tip of its tail had a flame on it, and its head was rounded, it's eyes flashing in the light as it stared up at its trainer. "Charmander!" it called.

"Hello to you too," Blaze smiled. It was his first Pokémon. He had played with his father's, but never owned one. Now he did. His heart was pounding and he felt giddy. _My very own Charmander! Mine!_ Bending down on one knee, he looked his Pokémon in the eye. "It's a boy, right?" he asked Professor Oak, turning his head to look at him.

"Yes, yes he is. You going to nickname him at all?" Oak was smiling. He loved watching trainers get their first Pokémon. It reminded him of his first one.

"Well, of course! I just haven't decided what to go with." Blaze turned back to his Pokémon, holding a hand out. When Charmander shook his hand, he felt the warmth of its skin. _He's a fire Pokémon, it should be obvious that he'll have warm skin._ Standing up again, he looked over to Wavery, who had called out her Squirtle at some point. Squirtle was a bit shorter than Charmander, but looked very different. Squirtle was a turtle Pokémon, and a water type. Being such, it had a brown shell on its back, and blue skin. The blue was very similar to the shade that Wavery's hair was, but Wavery's still seemed more vibrant to Blaze. Squirtle, at the moment, was on its hind legs like Charmander, but before long it bent over and made a circle around Wavery's legs by running on all fours. It also seemed to have a tail, that was also blue and rounded.

Blaze couldn't help but grin. They were trainers. _Finally! If only mom would've let me leave the house back when I was ten like all the other kids, I could've gotten to this point six years ago!_ Looking over to Professor Oak, the Professor was gone. "Professor Oak?" Blaze called out, not getting an answer. "Professor?"

"I'm right here!" Oak called, coming out with two objects that look like red books. They were the size of a pocket journal, and red all over. Holding them horizontally in his hands, Oak came over and handed one to each of them. "This," he said, "is the lifeline of all trainers. These are Pokédex."

Blaze had no idea what the red notebook was until Professor Oak said the word 'Pokédex.' His eyes widened a little. When he looked over to Wavery though, she already had hers open and was pushing something. Looking up to Oak, and seeing the Professor nod, Blaze looked back down at the Pokédex. It was red, and when holding it horizontally, on the right side of the device was a round knob with a button in the center. Pushing the button in the center of the knob, the Pokédex suddenly opened. It was the plastic covering, and it lifted up on the hinges it was connected to. As it opened, Blaze saw what was underneath. A screen. It was blank, until the covering opened all the way. Then the screen lit up, and was full of white, until words started appearing. Reading them, Blaze got anxious.

**Hello. I am Dexter, your Pokédex. I will have many uses to you, as a trainer. My traditional use was that of a Pokémon encyclopedia, which I had info on every Pokémon known to man. Since then, I've been upgraded multiple times by the smartest brains at Devon CO. and The Pokétch CO. I now keep time, I have a map of all regions around the world, I am a calculator, I am a calendar, I have a type checker, and I function as a phone. My screen is a touch sensitive screen as well. Press the "PROCEED" button to continue.**

Blaze was a little hesitant, but the functions seemed so cool to him. Plus, with the phone option, he really could call his mom everyday that he wasn't able to get to a PokéCenter. Pressing the button with his thumb, the screen went white for a moment before an information screen popped up.

**As your Pokédex, I hold your trainer info. Please input the following information:**

Blaze saw a scroll bar on the right side of the screen. Pressing on the bar, he scrolled down to see the questions.

**Are you male of female? Please click one.**

Blaze clicked male.

**What is your name? Please click on the text box, and then type in your name.**

Blaze clicked the text box, and when he did, the screen changed to show a keypad with a keyboard on it. Blaze typed in B-L-A-Z-E. He then clicked 'OK', and the screen reverted back to the info screen, but now the text box said 'Blaze' in it.

**How old are you?**

He clicked the text box, and typed in '16'.

**What time is it now?**

Blaze looked up. "Uh, Professor Oak, what time is it?" He then saw the Professor raise his hand to point at a clock on the wall. It read '3:48.' Typing a three under the hour slot, and a forty-eight under the minute slot, he continued on with the questions.

**What is your native town or city?**

Blaze typed in 'Cinnabar Island.'

**What is the date?**

Blaze entered this information in as well.

**Please click 'PROCEED.'**

Blaze did as was asked, and the screen changed yet again. A flash lit up the room before the screen returned, and Blaze looked up. Wavery was looking right at Professor Oak, who had a camera and it was pointed at her. Turning to face him, Professor Oak waited as Blaze looked down again.

**Thank you for the information. Please look in the direction of the person who delivered me to you.**

Blaze looked up again and Oak took a picture of him too. Looking down again, he scrolled down the screen.

**Now that your picture has been taken, a trainer card is being sent to you immediately with your name, age, trainer I.D. number, and your picture. This card with be your Trainer I.D., and can be required by any official Pokémon League building upon entering. Keep this card with you at all times. To continue, please press the 'REBOOT' button below. Once pressed, I will shut off, and from now on my power button with be the one you pressed to open me. Once turned back on, I will function normally. Please press 'REBOOT' now.**

Blaze pressed his finger over the button, and the screen went black. Shutting the cover, he heard a 'CLICK' and knew it had shut. Placing it in his pocket, he looked to Wavery, who had put her Pokédex away, and then noticed that the Professor was gone again. He quickly returned though, examining two cards. "Well, Blaze and Wavery," the Professor stated, "here are your Trainer I.D.'s." Being handed his I.D., Blaze examined it himself, seeing that the picture was actually a good one, and that, as Dexter had said, the card had his name, age and I.D. number on it.

"Your Pokédex will be vital to you, as well as your I.D.'s. Never lose them," Oak warned. "Also, here is something that Dexter didn't tell you two. Every Pokédex is connected to satellites that orbit the planet. This not only allows the phone function to work properly, but also lets your Pokédex connect to the NTS, the National Trainer Society. The NTS keeps record of all your achievements as a trainer. Every ribbon you win, every Gym you bet, every prize you accept as a Pokémon trainer gets added to your trainer profile. You can access your trainer profile through your Pokédex too, as you will see once you restart them and scroll through the menu."

Blaze had never imagined such a tiny piece of hardware could do all that. Oak wasn't done though. "Every time you enter a PokéCenter, the NTS satellites send any updates of your trainer profile to your Pokédex. This way, you have digital records of all your accomplishments." This impressed Blaze even more.

"Another thing that Dexter didn't tell you," continued Oak, "is that new updates for the Pokédex are always being made. For example, an upgrade which gives Dexter a new function might be made. When this happens, Dexter gives you a pop-up message, letting you know of the update. To update your Pokédex then, you must go to any PokéCenter and connect Dexter to a computer. The update will then commence and within a few minutes Dexter will have a new program."

Wavery jumped in at the chance. "It said that it functioned as a phone. Does it have a phonebook option?"

"Of course," was Oak's reply.

"What happens during daylight's savings time?"

"Now that it's connected to satellites, the time will change for you whenever you change time zones, or when a change in time is necessary," Oak replied again.

Blaze suddenly realized that they'd need supplies along their journeys, so he spoke this time. "Do PokéMarts have all the supplies we need? Because we could need potions, or more pokéballs, and of course pokéfood." Looking down at Charmander, he smiled. Charmander and Squirtle had been playing while Blaze and Wavery were dealing with their Pokédex, but Charmander had now returned to Blaze's side.

"Yes, PokéMarts have all the supplies you'll need to travel Kanto. You can find a PokéMart wherever there is a PokéCenter." Oak looked at the clock and sighed. "I'm afraid, though, that it is time you two be leaving. I have another trainer coming soon, and she'll need all my attention."

Blaze and Wavery nodded. As they were walking out, Professor Oak had one more thing to tell them. "A trainer can only hold six Pokémon at a time. Once you catch a seventh, it will get transported to me on the spot. To receive these Pokémon, just go to a computer in a PokéCenter, and we can swap one Pokémon that you have on you with one that I'm holding for you." Walking the two trainers out, Oak waved to them as they went back into the rolling hills that were Pallet Town.

Waving back, Blaze pulled out his Pokédex again and input his mom's phone number into the phonebook, and he noticed that his Pokédex's number was given to him so he could tell others, and Professor Oak's number was in there too. "We should put each other's phone numbers into our Pokédex," he suggested.

"Good idea," Wavery said, smiling. Without either of them knowing it, they had made a pact to travel Kanto together. Putting their Pokédex away, and returning their two Pokémon that had followed them out, their journey together had just begun.


	4. Another Friend

Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Another Friend**_

**Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. The flame on the tip of Charmander's tail is an indicator of its life. When healthy, the flame burns immensely. When dieing, the flame slowly fades until it burns out, and Charmander is dead. Please scroll down for Charmander's move list.**

Blaze was messing with his Pokédex as he and Wavery were walking along Route 1. It was a relatively short route, according to the Pokédex, but it was a winding trail that required some backtracking. Looking to Wavery, he asked, "Did you know Charmander knows a dragon type move?"

"No, I didn't. I don't see any relevance to that fact since dragon type moves are only super effective against dragon type Pokémon. Since dragon type Pokémon are quite rare, I don't see that move coming in handy very often." Wavery looked down at her own Pokédex, which was also open. She was examining Squirtle's move list, and studying it, as well as Wartortle's and Blastoise's.

Blaze sighed, "You just don't get it. It's a cool, fun fact to know, that Charmander has the move Dragon Rage."

"Dragon Rage?" Wavery snorted, "Dragon Rage has a fixed damage amount! You can't be serious."

Blaze scrunched up his face, giving her a deadly stare. "Screw you."

"You only wish you could," Wavery smirked.

_You bet I do._ Looking her up and down, Blaze smirked to himself before refocusing on his Pokédex again. After a few more minutes of walking, Wavery poked his side. "What?" he asked.

"Look," she said, pointing at a man approaching them. "Do you think he wants to battle?"

Blaze cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the man. "Wavery, he's in an apron. How many apron wearing guys walking around Kanto want to battle? He looks more like a chef to me. He obviously wants to speak with us, let's just say hello." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shake her head, so he quickened his pace. "Hello?" he called out to the apron wearing man. He had black hair, with a white shirt on and khaki pants, a sky blue apron on over it.

"Hello!" the man called back. "May I interest you in a free Potion sample from Viridian City's PokéMart?"

Blaze looked to Wavery. "See? He's a worker for a PokéMart." Facing forward again, he smiled as he got face to face with the PokéMart employee. "A free Potion? How could we refuse?"

"You can't!" the man said enthusiastically. Reaching into a bag he had hanging over his shoulder, he shuffled around inside. When he pulled his hand out again, he was holding two white plastic spray bottles, the lower halves being purple. "Here you go, a Potion for each of you."

"Thank you," Blaze and Wavery said together. Putting the Potions in their bags, they looked up to see the man gone. Shrugging, they continued on.

It had been another hour or so before Blaze's feet hurt. _Of course, as soon as I notice the pain, it worsens._ Groaning, he lowered his head.

"The sun is fairly hot today," Wavery stated, looking up at the blue, cloudless sky. Squinting her eyes, she blocked the sun with her hand. "Look!" she cried, "Spearow!"

Blaze's head jerked up, seeing the flock of red winged, brown feathered, red beaked bird Pokémon resembling sparrows swoop down and land about seventy yards away. _I still haven't battled,_ he thought, _and catching a second Pokémon would be smart, especially early on in my journey._ Breaking into a run, the pain in his feet suddenly disappeared. Reaching to his belt to grab Charmander's pokéball, his hand grabbed at nothing. Stopping in the middle of his run, very abruptly, he began searching frantically for the pokéball. Unable to find it, his head flew into the direction of Wavery, who was jogging to catch up. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"My pokéball…Charmander…he's gone!"

"What?!" Wavery immediately reached for Squirtle's pokéball, to find it missing too. "Squirtle is gone too!" Staring wide eyed at each other, tears slowly formed in Wavery's eyes. "We couldn't have lost them," she hadn't begun crying yet, "We just got them, and the only person we've seen so far is the PokéMart employee!"

Blaze's mouth dropped. "He took them. He had to have."

"Who?" Wavery had begun crying.

"The employee. We need to go find him." Starting to back track a few steps, a yell suddenly flew into their ears as the employee came running out of a bush, screaming "Help me!"

As the man ran towards them, arms flailing, Blaze cocked his eyebrows once again. _What in Hell's name is this guy's problem?_

"Please help me!" he looked to them, eyes pleading. A vine suddenly came out of the bush and grabbed his ankle. "No!" he cried out as he tripped down to the dirt, a dust cloud rising.

Blaze's eyes immediately traced the vine into the bush. Once his eyes reached the plant, a Pokémon suddenly jumped out at them, the vine coming from it.

The Pokémon was an evergreen color, with darker green dots on it's stubby legs, and a square like one on it's forehead, and its feet had small claws for traction. A single, red bud grew out if the center of its back. Sprouting out from below the bud came four green leaves, each about half the length of the Pokémon's body. The vine had shot out from below the leaves, and was gripping the man's ankle, showing no intent of letting go. "Ivy," it growled.

Blaze whipped out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon. **Ivysaur, the seed Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bulbasaur. The bud on Ivysaur's back is a growing flower, and will bloom when Ivysaur evolve.** Blaze put the Pokédex away when he saw a dark green haired trainer run around the bush.

"Great job, Nelly!" She had a gorgeous face, with a perfect nose, and her facial bone structure was the greatest he had ever seen, with perfect features. Blaze couldn't help but let his eyes wander down her body. She had a very tight green shirt on, which showed every curve of her beautiful, bouncing breasts. The shirt stopped in between the bottom of her breasts and her belly button, her mid section completely open down to her waist. The shirt was also very short sleeved, and didn't go past the tips of her shoulder blades. Her pants were a very dark green pair of jeans which were rolled up to her mid shin, with a black belt on. The belt buckle had a leaf on it, and her shoes were black running shoes with white laces. Under her shoes she had white socks the came up to the bottom of her ankles.

"Now," she said, slowing her run and walking up to the fallen man a few yards ahead of Blaze, "give me back my pokéball."

Blaze stepped forward now, letting the green haired girl know he was there. "Can my friend and I get ours back too please?" When the green haired girl looked to him, he noticed how her hair was up in a pony tail, only making her more gorgeous.

The girl examined him. "He took yours too?"

"Yeah, he has my Charmander, and her Squirtle," he motioned his head to Wavery, who was wiping her tears away.

Looking back down at the man who was sobbing into the dirt now, the girl barked, "Give us the pokéballs now!"

"Okay, okay!" he cried, "They're in my bag! Just let me go!"

Reaching down and grabbing the bag, Blaze shuffled through it, finding four pokéballs. Grabbing them, he found that two of them had a sticker of a green leaf resembling the leaves on Ivysaur's back on the top. Holding those two out to the green haired girl, she took them and replace them on her belt. Blaze then tossed one of the other two out, to find Charmander coming out.

Handing the pokéball that had to have Squirtle in it to Wavery, he glared at the man. About to order Charmander to use an attack, though, the green haired girl made her move. "Nelly, release this filthy man." The Ivysaur immediately retracted its vines as they disappeared under the leaves. "Now go, you greedy pig. Get out of here!" Once the vine let him go, the man instantly flew to his feet and took off toward Viridian City.

As the girl turned her back on them for a moment, Blaze let his eyes fall to the girl's backside, her butt being perfect as well. Groaning slightly from the bulge in his pants, Blaze's eyes shot up to her own eyes as she turned back to face him. "Thank you for getting our Pokémon back," Blaze smiled softly.

"No problem! I actually got lucky that Nelly was off in a bush when he came by offering me a free Potion. When he grabbed my two pokéballs, he didn't realize that one was empty. By the way, I'm Daisy." Extending her hand, Blaze shook it eagerly.

Now that he saw her close up, he finally got to take in her appearance fully. It was then that he felt he had seen her somewhere. "You look familiar," he said.

"I do?" Daisy shrugged. "Oh, by the way, you look like this boy my grandpa told me about a few hours ago. He said you had left with a girl with blue hair as well."

"Your grandfather? Why, we've only been to Professor Oak's lab, and I highly doubt−" Blaze cut himself off. He knew where he had seen her now. It was in a magazine earlier that year. She was standing next to a gray haired man in a lab coat, who was next to and laughing with a brown haired, balding man in a lab coat. The two men were Professor Oak and his student, Professor Elm from Johto. Professor Elm had just made a discovery about Pokémon eggs and how Pokémon reproduce, and the two were celebrating at Oak's house with his granddaughter, Daisy Oak. "You're Daisy Oak!" He was taken aback.

"Yes," she said, seeming surprised as well.

"I saw you in a magazine about a year ago!"

"I see. Well, Grandpa does get his picture taken a lot. It doesn't surprise me that I get caught in some as well." She shrugged it off, and continued with her original point. "Anyways, Grandpa told me that he'd forgotten to give you these." Holding her hand out, she gave Blaze five pokéballs, as well as five to Wavery. "Those are empty pokéballs," she said, "When battling a wild Pokémon, throw one of these at them to try and catch it."

Blaze and Wavery both put their five new pokéballs away, and Blaze went on with his point. "You had brown hair then, though. What happened?"

"I felt like dying it. Is that a problem?"

"No! Of course not! And how long have you had Ivysaur?"

"Nelly?" Daisy looked back over her shoulder. "I've had her for about seven years now!"  
"So you're seventeen?" Wavery butted in this time.

"Yes. You two sure do have a lot of questions." Daisy smiled sweetly. "I am to assume you are both starting your journeys as trainers now. May I ask why so late? You both look to be sixteen, and yet you've just started?"

"Yeah," Blaze bowed his head now, "My mom said it wasn't safe."

"That's why I waited," Daisy admitted. "I didn't want to start so early in my life, so instead I secured Nelly from Grandpa when I was ten, and am now off to be a Pokémon Coordinator!"

"Yeah, well, I've had to help my mom out for the past six years," Wavery said, seeming sad. "We've had to run shop in Saffron for about seven years now, and once I turned ten my mom needed my help. Now, though, things are running smoothly so I'm becoming a Catcher now!"

Blaze hadn't heard why Wavery started so late, and now that he knew, he smiled. "Well, hey, if you hadn't waited, we'd both be traveling alone!" Seeing Wavery smile and nod, he chuckled a bit before Daisy cut in.

"Speaking of traveling alone," she paused, "could I, possibly, come with you guys too?"

Blaze was a little shocked, but how could he turn such a gorgeous girl down? "Of course you can!" Giving her a very sweet smile, Daisy nodded.

"Great!"


	5. There's Something to do at Every Stop

Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

_**There's Something to do at Every Stop**_

"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!" a trainer with black, spiky hair and a red vest called. Dragonite, a large, orange Pokémon with a long tail, two blue wings, and claws on its two feet and two hands lifted it's head back. The head had a small horn at the top, and two antenna coming out. Opening its mouth, a ball of light formed as it charged for the attack. Pushing it's head forward, the ball of light suddenly became a large beam, flying right at Dragonite's opponent.

It was a small Pokémon, no more than one and a half feet tall. It was yellow, had two small, round sacs on its cheeks, ears with black tips poking out of its head, and a zigzag tail that started as brown at the base, but faded into a yellow to match the rest of its fur. Jumping back onto its tail, the Pokémon used it to spring itself into the air, avoiding the attack. As it flew towards Dragonite, it called, "Pikachu!"

As Pikachu landed on Dragonite's head, its trainer called to it. "Great job Pikachu! Now use Thunder!"

"Dragonite, throw it off!"

The two Pokémon began struggling as Dragonite flailed about, attempting to get Pikachu off its head, but the yellow Pokémon wouldn't move. As sparks began to run across Pikachu's red sacs on its cheeks, it cried out as a large lightning bolt flew from the sky and hit the two. The Orange League stadium was engulfed in white light when the bolt hit, blinding everyone momentarily. As the attack ended, the light faded, and Pikachu jumped off Dragonite, the two Pokémon stared each other down, until Dragonite fell over. The judge lifted his flag, calling out, "Dragonite is unable to battle, Ash from Pallet Town wins and is the new Orange League Champion!" The crowd burst into cheers as Drake called his Dragonite back, putting its pokéball on his necklace again.

* * *

The alarm went off in his ear, the annoying sound forcing him awake. Reaching over and turning it off, Blaze slowly climbed out of bed, yawning as he did so. Walking into the bathroom to wash up, he changed into his clothes before walking downstairs.

As he came to the first floor, he saw three women at a table, all looking to him as he came down. Two he knew to be Wavery and Daisy. The third was a woman in a white shirt and skirt. She had pink hair that was pulled back into two large buns, and on her head she wore a nurse's visor. She had long skinny legs, and wore white shoes as well. "Hello Nurse Joy," Blaze smiled.

"Hello Blaze," the Viridian City Nurse Joy smiled at him. "Would you care for some breakfast?"

"Sure!" Blaze walked over and took a seat at the table as Nurse Joy walked away. "Good morning you two," Blaze said to his two traveling partners, both of whom were eating. Looking over, he saw Daisy's Ivysaur and Wavery's Squirtle eating some food, with an empty bowl next to Ivysaur and a full one next to Squirtle. Assuming the full one was for Charmander, he called his Pokémon out and let him eat. _I still haven't seen who Daisy's second Pokémon is. She claims to have one, and there's an empty bowl there, but who could it be?_ Hearing some clanking as Nurse Joy gave him his food, Blaze smiled at the sunny side up eggs in front of him. "Thank you." Eating with the others, they sat in silence until they were done.

Daisy broke the silence first. "Okay, so last night I was doing some research on Kanto cities, and found which ones have Contest Halls, which ones have Catching Halls, and which ones have Gyms." Looking to Blaze, she smiled. "It seems that every city in Kanto has a Gym in it, even Viridian City itself. The problem is, Viridian's Gym is closed because they still haven't found a new Gym Leader to take over after the explosion a year or so ago. With that in mind, the closest gym would be in Pewter City, which is due north of here." Looking to Wavery now, she slightly frowned. "Catching Contests are fairly new. Because of this, there aren't many Catching Halls in Kanto. It turns out that there is one in Pewter City, one in Saffron City, one in Celadon City, and one on Cinnabar Island. The website I checked also said that there were also some that would be organized by the Kanto Pokémon Fan Club. It didn't say when or where however." Daisy then sighed, and went on. "Contests, though, are found in a handful of places. There is one in Cerulean City, one in Vermillion City, one in Saffron City, one in Fuschia City, and one right here in Viridian City."

Blaze was quiet up till now, "Well, isn't that good? We can head over to the Contest Hall and you can try for your first Ribbon!"

Daisy nodded. "Are we sure we want to stop now? You to haven't even gotten into your first Pokémon battles yet!"

Wavery shook her head. "It's fine, Daisy. We all know that there will be plenty of battles to come in our travels. I'm just worried about my Catching Contests. If I don't get three Pokéball badges out of those four Catching Contests, I won't get to enter into the Master Hall." She sounded demoralized.

Blaze patted her hand, "It'll work out, I know it will. Even if it means we have to wait in town for the next session to open."

"That's an entire month!" Wavery protested.

"So what?" Daisy cut in. "If we're traveling together, e have to support each other. Plus, the month of waiting will give us time to train, and we can even head towards another town and come back after the month is up. It's no big deal." Wavery was smiling now, as were Blaze and Daisy, when Nurse Joy came up.

"Excuse me, you three, but I have something to give you," Joy said softly. Looking over to her helper Pokémon, the round, pink Chansey came walking towards them carrying a tray. The Chansey's body was shaped like an egg, and it had a pouch over its stomach that had an actual egg in it. Chansey's arms were very stubby, and the body just kind of sat on the feet, with no legs to be seen. It had a tail too, and coming out of the top of its body were six long, hair like structures, three on each side of its body. It wore a matching nurse's visor with Joy.

As it came up, Blaze noticed that the tray had what looked like stickers on them. "These are stickers for your pokéballs," Joy said, "You can get them at any PokéCenter for free. I noticed how Daisy had some, and thought you guys might like some too. You can choose any package you want, and each package has quite a few stickers in them."

Blaze and Wavery looked down at the tray, examining each pack. There was one of bubbles, one with stars, one with clouds, one with lightning bolts, one with a flame, one with flowers, one with leaves, one with boulders, and more. Blaze reached down and grabbed the one with flames, and Wavery grabbed one that had a wave of water on it. Placing the stickers on the six pokéballs that they had right now, they thanked Nurse Joy.

Turning back to the other two, Blaze sighed. Wavery then grabbed her pokéball and called back Squirtle. "Pepper, return!" Blaze caught the nickname, a little surprised.

"You nicknamed Squirtle?"

"Yeah! I like the name Pepper, so I gave it to her." Wavery placed the pokéball on her belt.

"Well, I've been trying to find a name for Charmander," he stated, "and I like Jasper." Looking over to Charmander, he asked, "How does Jasper sound?"  
"Char char!" it cried happily.

"Good, I'm glad." Pulling his pokéball out, he called Jasper back. "You ready, Daisy?"

Daisy's color flushed out of her. "For my first contest……you bet I am." As she stood, they walked out, Nelly at Daisy's side.


	6. Jasper vs Rattata

Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Jasper vs. Rattata**_

"So, how excited are you, Daisy?" Blaze inquired, seeming overly excited himself, even though he wouldn't even be participating in the Contest.

"Excited?" Daisy snorted. "Excited? Hell no, I'm incredibly nervous! Yeah, I've seen contests on television, and I have ideas of how to appeal the judges, but watching is nothing, compared to playing!" Her head was bowed, and she was dragging her feet with each step.

"Daisy, come on now, we all know you'll do great! So what if you don't win? You yourself said that there were quite a few Contest Halls around Kanto, and we can always revisit later! After all, we'll have to come back so Blaze can take on the Gym once construction is over, and we have to come through here to get to the Indigo Plateau, assuming Blaze is good enough to get there." Looking over at Blaze with a smirk on her face, Blaze glared in return.

"I know I'll do fine! I know I will!" Daisy lifted her head and began walking straighter. "Forget the thought of losing! I'm going to win this! Win this Contest!"

"That's the spirit!" Blaze cheered.

"Ivysaur!" Nelly cried from Daisy's feet, smiling up at her trainer.

"We'll do great, Nelly. You and me, all the way!"

"Ivy!"

Blaze grinned as Daisy and her Pokémon began walking with heads held high. _They'll do great, I know they will. After all, she's the granddaughter of Professor Oak himself! Her talent will be natural, and she'll show it today!_

"Halt!"

Blaze looked up from his thoughts to see a boy around the age of eleven blocking their way. He was at least a foot smaller than Blaze, had brunette hair, brown eyes, and wore a blue cap, yellow shirt, and blue shorts. Blaze could see the fire in the boy's eyes, and instantly knew what the kid wanted.

"Move out of our way, we have a Contest to get to!" Wavery exclaimed.

"No! You can't get to the contest! My daddy is in that contest, and we need the prize money to get to his next contest! So I'm here to keep people like you from getting there, so he has less competition!"

Blaze smirked and stepped forward. "So, what you're saying is you want a battle?"

"To waste your time!" The boy pointed at him.

"Okay, okay," Blaze grabbed Jasper's pokéball. "I'm the one who needs to get to the Contest. I'll stay and battle you." Turning to the girls behind him, he winked. "You have to let me friends pass, though, because they only want to watch."

The boy opened his mouth to protest, but paused, thinking of what to do. "Fine!" he cried out. "The two girls can go. You must stay and fight, though!"  
Blaze nodded in agreement. "You two hurry on, and best of luck!" Realizing what he was saying, he quickly thought of something else. "Best of luck finding good seats, I mean!"

"Thanks Blaze," Daisy whispered to him as she passed.

Shaking his head as they walked away, he pressed the button in the middle of Jasper's pokéball. The pokéball grew in his palm to the normal size, and he threw it into the air. "Go Jasper!" After the light returned to the pokéball and Charmander was standing, ready to fight, the pokéball fell back into his palm, where Blaze pressed the button again and returned the ball to his belt. "Jasper, this is our first battle! I know we can do this!"

"Charmander Char!"

"Your first battle?" The boy seemed shocked from the age difference. "Well, that just means this'll be easier on us!" Grabbing his own pokéball, he held it in his hand. "Let's make this a one on one Pokémon battle. The first Pokémon to faint loses." Seeing Blaze nod in agreement, the boy threw the pokéball into the air. "Go Rattata!"

The Pokémon that emerged from the boy's pokéball was a small purple rat. It stood on all fours, a few whiskers coming from its mouth. The fur directly around the mouth was tan, and it ran along the under belly, and the bottom of the legs down to its paws. It had round ears on its small head, and a tail that shot up from its rear end and curled into a round ball at the end. "Rrrrrattatat-tat-tat-tat-tat!" it cried, rolling its "R"s.

Whipping out his Pokédex, Blaze pointed it at the small Pokémon.

**Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. Rattata are very hardy Pokémon that will fight to the bitter end. Because of its fierce personality, Rattata can live in nearly any environment.**

Flipping the Pokédex shut, Blaze got into the battling mood. "You ready Jasper?" Hearing Charmander cry back, he smirked. _Good._ "Go! Use Scratch!"

Charmander immediately charged the Rattata. Blaze's immediate attack caught the boy off guard, and Charmander's attack hit head on, sending Rattata rotating backwards as its head moved with the attack.

"You won't win this! Rattata, use Bite!"

The boys Pokémon used the short distance between it and Charmander to bite Jasper's arm. "Char char char char char!" Jasper cried out with pain as it shook its arm, getting Rattata to let go and jump back.

"You okay Jasper?" Blaze called as Charmander licked its arm. Seeing it nod back, he grinned. "Now, use Ember!"

Charmander lifted its head as the flames rose from its belly. Once they reach the mouth, Jasper pushed his head forward and flames came shooting out, aimed for Rattata.

"Dodge with Quick attack!"

Rattata immediately burst into a speedy run, avoiding the flames and coming up next to Charmander, ramming him in the stomach. As Charmander flew backwards, crying out, Blaze realized he had to think of something quick. _This isn't working, Blaze! Rattata is too fast, and Charmander isn't strong enough to out match Rattata's speed just yet. There has to be a way to slow that thing down!_ It took a few moments, which Charmander used to recover from the hit, and then Blaze spoke out. "Jasper, use Smoke Screen!" Charmander, in response, opened its mouth and smoke flew out, rather than flames. The smoke flew into Rattata's face, shrouding it in darkness. "Great job! Now, use Ember again!" Charmander, knowing where Rattata was, blew more flames into the smoke.

"Rattata? Where are you? You have to get out of the smoke!" The boy was crying out to his Pokémon, desperate to make Blaze as late as possible. As an answer, though, Rattata cried out from the Ember attack. Bursting through the smoke, its tail was caught on fire and it was running around in pain.

"Listen, kid, you should probably call him back," Blaze said, motioning towards Rattata. "You don't want to overexert it." Pulling his own pokéball out, he called Jasper over. "Great job!" he grinned, "we have our first win!"

"Charmander!"

"You deserve a rest though." Pointing the button of the pokéball at his Pokémon, a red beam shot out of it and the light engulfed Charmander. As the light disappeared, he put the pokéball away. Walking up to the kid, who was holding Rattata and its burned tail, Blaze put his hand on the kid's shoulder. "You should run him up to Nurse Joy. She'll take care of him." The kid nodded and took off running.

Looking down the road, he couldn't see the Contest hall yet. _I wonder if it's started yet._ Looking at the clock in his Pokédex, he swore under his breath. _I have five minutes!_ Breaking into a run, he hurried down the road.


	7. The First Contest Part 1

Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

_**The First Contest (Part 1)**_

The door burst open as he flew through them, running as fast as he could into the Contest Hall. Stopping to catch his breath and find Wavery with his seat, he began to scan the crowd. It took Wavery a moment before seeing him, and she waved him up to her. Walking up the stairs, he made his way to his seat.

"How much did I miss?" he whispered in her ear as a trainer and his Pokémon walked off stage.

"You missed the majority of the contestants. Daisy has to go last because of how late her entry was. We got here five minutes before this all began."

"That's cutting it close," he sighed with relief.

"I'll say," Wavery sighed with him.

Blaze had never seen a contest in his life. Not on T.V., not in real life, he hadn't even listened to the outcomes over the radio. He just knew they existed. He didn't have the foggiest idea of how contests worked.

"Finally, last but most definitely not least," the announcer began, "Daisy Oak and her partner, Nelly!" The crowd cheered, knowing nothing about Daisy except her name and Ivysaur's nickname. _It must be common courtesy,_ Blaze thought, cheering with the rest of them, though having more reasons to.

Daisy came out, holding her pokéball tightly in her hands. "Go Nelly!" The pokéball flew into the air and Ivysaur popped out. Blaze noticed a difference though. When it came out, sparkles flew around it. Giving a questioning glance to Wavery, she answer the obvious question.

"Nelly is appealing to the audience and judges," she whispered, "The better the appeal, the more points you get. Depending on your score here decides if you go to the next round, where you battle the other trainers who moved on in a timed battle where you lose points depending on your moves, and your opponents." She paused then, sighing, "Just watch."

"Now, use Vine Whip!" Ivysaur responded by jumping away from the sparkles it had set off as it came out. Vines shot out just like they had from the bush when grabbing the PokéMart employee's ankle. Stretching the vines around the group of sparkles, Ivysaur had the ends touch, and began spinning them around the sparkles. As it did so, it made the shape of the vines spherical, and the sparkles whipped up into a sphere themselves.

"Wow," the announcer stated, "Ivysaur is using its Vine Whip to shape the particles from its Poison Powder attack into a sphere of sparkles!"

"Now Ivysaur," Daisy called, "Use your Razor Leaf and Vine Whip combo!" Ivysaur then responded by stopping the spinning of its vines and shooting leaves out straight through the sphere of sparkles. After the leaves emerged out the other side, they were covered in the particles. Ivysaur let them travel a few seconds after emerging before smacking them with its vines. As Ivysaur smacked them down, the sparkles would linger in the air, the full effect being little sparkle clouds in the air like fireworks.

"Amazing! They're like fire crackers," the announcer commented, apparently in awe.

"Wow, that was good," Blaze said to Wavery as the crowd burst into applause. Wavery nodded, her smile too wide to say anything.

"That concludes our first round! We will announce our winners of the first round in approximately five minutes!" This break was the first chance Blaze got to examine the judges and the announcer. The announcer had very bouncy blonde hair, and wore a red dress, and her smile never left her face. Two of the judges were male, and one female. The first male was rather tall compared to the other, and he had brown, short hair. Wrinkles under his eyes showed he was aging, and not in a pretty way. The smaller male was balding, betraying the fact that he was younger than his taller counterpart. The female's height was in between the two men's, and she had long, flowing blue hair. Her dress went down to her upper chest, showing just enough to make you wonder what the rest looked like, but not enough to make you go out of your way to find out. The judges and the announcer walked off stage, leaving it empty. The stands quickly cleared out as people went to use the restroom and go about their business. Blaze and Wavery went back stage to talk with Daisy.

Finding her among the many anxious coordinators, they hugged her first. "That was great," they said in unison before Blaze submitted. "The whole appeal from you was great! Nelly was good too," Wavery smiled, patting Ivysaur's head.

"Yeah," Blaze agreed, "I never knew how fun contests were to watch, or I'd have started sooner!"

Daisy smiled her thanks, and opened her mouth to talk, before a cool, calm, and collected voice spoke up from behind them. "That wasn't bad. It wasn't bad at all. You used Ivysaur's poison type to your advantage with the opener, but the appeal as a whole could be made much better. As a novice, though, it was good."

Before spinning to see who it was, Blaze saw Daisy's face lose its color. Turning on his heels, the boy behind them was Blaze's height and age, Caucasian, and had a dark brown hair color. His eyes were closed, but when he opened them to see if they had turned, Blaze noted the coldness in their brown depths. The boy had tight black jeans on, a skin tight dark black T-Shirt on, and his hair seemed messy, poking out slightly from the sides above the ears, his bangs coming down just above his eyes, concealing his eyebrows. His arms were crossed, slightly concealing the many thin bracelets he had on each arm, one with a whole bunch of black, the other full of green. His cold stare was directed at Daisy now as he smirked from her paleness. "Do you people speak, or no?" the guy asked, a hint of paranoia in his voice.

"Ugh," Daisy stumbled for words, "Um, thank you," she finally spat out after a few moments. "I never thought you'd be here, and after your performance, I never thought you'd come up to me, let alone compliment me."

"When talent and potential is shown, credit must be given," the man stated, "Of course, you don't have a chance of besting me, but you have the potential of being second best."

Blaze didn't like his cockiness. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Daisy punched him in the back, snarling through her teeth, "Show some respect, Blaze! This is Connor," Daisy regained her composure, now more introducing the man, "He is a very talented Pokémon Coordinator. He came in second in Hoenn's last Grand Festival."

"Hoenn was a set back, a fluke. The judges were not ruling fairly, and I should've won!" Connor's hands were clenched and shaking at his sides.

"For being the best, coming up short in the Grand Festival doesn't prove it," Blaze smirked, attempting to strike a blow on the cocky bastard.

Connor sent a death stare Blaze's way. "Watch what you say, kid."

"I'm your age," Blaze began to protest before being cut off.

"You don't understand how hard I worked, or how much time I lost training those Pokémon who became worthless to me! I even parted ways with my brother and two sisters to be the best! I traveled alone, with no one but those shitty Pokémon!" His glare slowly faded away as he regained his composure. "So, after finishing our travels in Hoenn, my siblings and I decided to come here. We've all started anew, and all those Pokémon who caused me to lose in Hoenn will not affect me here. I will train all new Pokémon, and train them correctly. I'll win this time, you'll see."

Blaze was nearly fed up with this guy. _Pokémon aren't tools to help you rise to fame! They are friends, they are family, and you're supposed to care and love them as their trainer!_ Blaze's own hands were clenched into fists, but he was restraining himself from making a scene.

"Maybe you have what it takes to face me even here," Connor sighed, closing his eyes again. "Don't get your hopes up." He then turned his back on them and walked off.

"Thanks," Daisy muttered as he walked away, noticing Blaze's fists. "What?" she asked.

"It's that guy! Connor! He's acting like winning is the only thing that matters, like Pokémon are just tools to be used and discarded when they don't do their job anymore!"

"Whatever you think," Daisy sighed, "He's one of the best there is right now."

"Wrong," Wavery cut in. "He's not anymore. Sure, he knows what it takes to become a winner, but he himself said that he started fresh. His Pokémon aren't the ones he had gotten used to, and aren't the ones with all the training. He could easily lose this contest to a novice, as he apparently calls the new coordinators."

Daisy smiled at the comfort, but shook her head. "No, I don't think Nelly could beat him, plainly from the Pokémon he has on him."

Blaze noticed how Daisy's voice dropped at the end there, and upon looking at Wavery, he found her head towards the ground too. "What does he have? What did he use?"

"Chimchar. He brought a Chimchar," Daisy sighed.

"Who?" Blaze had no idea what they were talking about.

"Chimchar is a fire type Pokémon who lives in Sinnoh. The new trainers there can choose between three Pokémon to start with, just as we can, and Chimchar is the fire type among their choices," Wavery let out a sigh to match Daisy's once she finished.

"Oh," Blaze fell silent. "Chimchar must be the first stage in the evolution track, though, right?" Seeing Daisy nod, he smiled. "Well, Nelly is in her second stage! She's got a clear advantage as well!"

This made Daisy lift her head and slightly smile. "We'll definitely do our best," she patted Nelly's head, who moved closer to her trainer.

The announcer then spoke over the P.A. system, announcing that they had only a minute or so before the semifinalists would be announced. Heading back to their seats, Blaze and Wavery awaited the results.

"The semifinalists of this month's Viridian City Contest are: Connor Feenore, David Brown, Shane Parker, and Daisy Oak!" As the announcer read the names, the faces of each coordinator appeared on the large screen behind her. The pictures were then split into pairs, showing who would face who first.

Blaze and Wavery cheered at Daisy's name, overjoyed that she at least made it into the semifinals. Now all she had to do was beat this Shane Parker kid. Before Daisy's battle though, Connor and David Brown had to battle. _Feenore? _Blaze thought, chuckling to himself. _What kind of name is _Feenore_? God, that's horrible._

The two coordinators stepped onto the battlefield that had been the stage. The big screen changed its display to that of two pictures, a timer, and a point bar for each trainer under their picture. Wavery leaned over to explain. "As I said earlier, the two trainers battle each other. During the battle though, they try to change moves to make appeals for themselves. When an appeal goes for the opposing trainer, or your appeal backfires on you, you lose points. The way to win is to either get a knock out and win the battle as a battle, deplete your opponents points completely, or have more points than your opponent when the timer runs out."

Blaze's eyebrows rose. "Wow," was all he could say. As the screen flashed the word "GO" for a few seconds before changing back to the scoreboard, both trainers sent out their Pokémon.

"Go Chimchar," Connor called, Chimchar coming out. The fire Pokémon was smaller than Jasper, and looked much like a small chimpanzee. It had red fur with a tan belly and face. It stood at first on its hind legs, but then bent down to be on all fours, much like chimpanzees. Its arms and legs were orange, but its hands and feet were tan as well. Its rear end, though without a tail, also had a flame burning. "Is he constantly farting?" Blaze asked, joking around. Pulling out his Pokédex, he got Chimchar's info.

**Chimchar, the chimp Pokémon. Chimchar is a very agile Pokémon, and lives atop Mountains. The fire on its rear end is kept burning due to gases it creates in its stomach. Nothing can put the flame out, except for when Chimchar sleeps.**

Blaze started laughing. "It does fart!" he cried before Wavery elbowed him roughly in the side. Laughing under his breath, he awaited David's Pokémon.

"Go, Butterfree!" he called. His Pokémon shot out and took to the sky. It looked like an overgrown butterfly to Blaze. It had a purple body with large red eyes. Its nose was blue, it had two teeth that poked out, and its hands and feet were blue. It had two black antenna coming out of the top of its head, and large wings coming from its side. They were white with black designs running in them. The wings, and its body as a whole, was symmetrical down the center of its body.

**Butterfree, the butterfly Pokémon. Butterfree meet in a large group during mating season to choose a mate. The females choose the male that they feel will offer the strongest kin. Butterfree also love honey from flowers, and can trace flowers down who have hardly any pollen left in them.**

"It's a bug type," Blaze noted, "So Chimchar should have the upper hand type wise."

The announcer seemed overly excited. "This should be a great match. Ready? Go!"

Immediately Connor called out. "Chimchar, use Ember!" The chimp Pokémon reacted instantly as well, breathing fire into the air at Butterfree.

"Butterfree, dodge and use Gust!" The bug-flying type dodged the fire attack with one flap of its wings, which it flapped again to create a wind that knocked Chimchar backwards and onto its back. Blaze then saw Connor's point bar shrink, and knew that this should be a good battle.

"Butterfree, follow up with Confusion and then Stun Spore!" David's Pokémon did as was told, and its eyes began to glow blue. Within a second after Butterfree's eyes began to glow, a blue glow surrounded Chimchar's fallen body as well, lifting it into the air. Bringing the body closer to it as Butterfree flew to it to meet midway, Butterfree flapped its wings some more and a powder, like the one Ivysaur had used during the appeal session, came out, covering Chimchar, who breathed it in and cried out. Butterfree then flew away from Chimchar and threw it to the ground.

"That's got to hurt," Blaze said.

Chimchar was having trouble getting up, and Connor lost a greater amount of points from the combo. "Chimchar not only took two hits their, but the Stun Spore Butterfree used also paralyzed it!" The announcer was way too giddy for Blaze's liking. "Can Connor make a comeback to take the win with two more minutes remaining?"

Blaze leaned over to Wavery, asking, "How much time are they given?"

"Three minutes for semifinals, five minutes for finals, and at the Grand Festival you get five for semifinals and ten for finals."

"I see," he said, making a note of it. _If Connor is the best, he better take the lead or knock Butterfree out._

"Chimchar, get up! You can't lose to a Pokémon you have a type advantage over! Are you that weak?" Connor was getting angry, and Blaze could see it on his face, even from the stands. His Pokémon struggled against the paralyzing condition it had and got on its feet. Now that Chimchar was up, though, Connor smirked. "Use Facade," he demanded through grinning teeth.

Chimchar, though paralyzed, suddenly began moving as if it had never come under the status condition. Running at Butterfree on all fours, it jumped into the air and punched its opponent right in the center of its body, making Butterfree fall to the ground, landing with a thud.

"Whoa!" the announcer called. "Connor used the status condition he received to his advantage and used Façade, a move that gets strengthened when the Pokémon is under a poison, paralyzed, or burn condition! It must've been his plan the entire time!"

Looking at the scoreboard, Blaze watched as David's points dropped dramatically down to half of its original value just from that move. Connor was now in the lead. "Jeez! Connor just took the lead with that!"

"I know," Wavery bit her lip, obviously hoping David would win. "The thing is, that move might gain power from the status condition, but Chimchar is still paralyzed. David still has the advantage as long as he can avoid making another mistake like that."

"Butterfree, are you all right?" David was obviously holding back the urge to run to his Pokémon. As Butterfree rose back into the air, David smiled, but it faded when Connor spoke.

"You can't really expect to win!" He was laughing. "I type trump you, and your own moves are backfiring on you! You should've thought this through!" Taking another moment to stop laughing, he let out an amused sigh. "Chimchar, use Nasty Plot!" Chimchar, following its orders, stood there focusing.

"What is it doing?" Blaze asked.

"Nasty Pot raises the Special Attack stat of the Pokémon using it. If he then lands another fire attack, the damage done will most likely be greater."

"But I thought that a Pokémon's Special Attack stat only affects the nonphysical moves that it knows."

"If that's so," Wavery stated, "then David best watch out for Chimchar's Ember."

"Butterfree, use Silver Wind!" Butterfree began flapping its wings again, but much harder than before. A strong wind built up against Chimchar, and white powder flew through it, knocking Chimchar into the air and then making him land hard.

"Ember attack, now!" Chimchar's Nasty Plot had obviously worked, for when it spat the flames out this time, they were much larger, and cut right through the wind, the particles burning in their flight, causing the stage to sparkle, and hitting Butterfree square in the face.

"Damn!" Blaze and Wavery cried out together.

Blaze watched as the judges deducted the rest of David's points from the attack backfiring and appealing for Connor. Making the loss even worse, though, was how Butterfree had fainted too. David had lost two different ways at one time.

"Ouch!" The announcer called. "That has to hurt!" Turning to the scoreboard, she then cried, "And Connor Feenore wins the match, as David's Butterfree is unable to battle, and David's points run out! Connor moves on to the finals!"

"I didn't see that coming!" Blaze stared wide eyed at Connor as he shook his head, recalled his Pokémon, and walked off without saying a word to David.

"Connor was one step ahead the entire time." Wavery was wide eyed as well. "He knew that David would go for a status condition since Chimchar did have a type advantage, and so he had Façade up his sleeve. He also knew that after Façade, David would use a strong move on him, and Silver Wind is one of Butterfree's strongest moves. Either he knew he'd win whether Silver Wind was used or not, or if he was counting on it to lower David's points, or if he got lucky, but Connor knows what he's doing."

Blaze gulped. _Daisy can do this! We all know she can! She just has to focus and beat Shane Parker, and then she can take down Mr. Cocky Pants over here and his Chimchar. I know she can do it. She has to!_


	8. The First Contest Part 2

_**Chapter 8**_

_**The First Contest (Part 2)**_

"Next up is Shane Parker, and Daisy Oak," the announcer called to the spectators, who were still in awe from the ending of the last match. The flares that had scattered the room were still in Blaze's eyes. He couldn't believe how Connor had turned the battle around so quickly.

Blaze looked to Wavery, who's face had become horror stricken once Shane and Daisy took the field. "What?" he asked.

"Shane!" She seemed shocked after seeing him. "He's using a Cyndaquil!"

"What!" He could tell his face was horrorstruck too by how Wavery nodded once looking at him. "If things turn out like that last match, Daisy's doomed!"

Looking at Shane, he seemed very determined. He had black hair that went down to his neck, the ends having been dyed a light brown. His bangs went halfway down his forehead, and he wore a black cap with a picture of a sun stone just above the bill on it. He wore a black T-Shirt and blue jeans, and when he smirked Blaze found his teeth to be crooked.

"Go Nelly," Daisy called, Ivysaur coming out and looking ready for the battle.

"Go Cyndaquil!" The Pokémon that emerged looked like nothing Blaze had ever seen. It stood on all fours, but then raised itself on its hind legs, before going back to all four to walk. It's head was just smaller than its body, and it seemed to have a snout that came to an end with its mouth. It was tan, except for the top of its head and back, which were blue. On its back were red dots. "You ready Cyndaquil?" All of a sudden, the red dots on its back lit on fire and a flame rose from its back.

"Cyndaquil!"

**Cyndaquil, the fire mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil are usually very timid, and they can control the flame on their backs. When frightened, or angered, the flame burns vigorously. **Blaze had whipped his Pokédex out, not liking the fact that Cyndaquil was a fire type.

"I don't know about this one," Blaze said to himself, "It'll all depend on how many fire attacks Ivysaur can take."

"But that in itself depends on how good of a dodger Ivysaur is. I'm putting my faith in Daisy. She can do this. She just has to relax." Wavery was being positive.

"You've never seen her battle!" Blaze protested, looking to Wavery. "For all we know, she could be horrible at this!"

"She's been watching Contests since they first appeared in the world. I'm sure she knows just what she's doing. Plus, she's Oak's granddaughter. That alone gives her an edge."

"True," Blaze admitted. _I just hope that's enough._

The scoreboard changed to show the two new battlers like it had the first. Then it flashed "GO" again and the battle began.

Daisy was the quickest. "Nelly, use Sweet Scent!" Ivysaur reacted by bending its front towards the ground, making the bulb on its back face Cyndaquil. The bulb then began to move, much like a cannon, and a huge cloud of pink powder shot out.

"What is she doing?" Blaze cried.

"What do you mean?"

Blaze looked at Wavery like she had missed something huge. "What do you mean what do I mean? She just used a powder attack! Isn't it flammable?"

"It doesn't matter whether it is or not once Cyndaquil sniffs it." Wavery shook her head. "Sweet Scent lowers the foe's evasiveness, but it also lowers their guard. Once Cyndaquil smells that attack, I doubt it'll do too much, but rather will want to follow Ivysaur around for the smell."

As if directed in a movie, Shane then called to Cyndaquil, "Use Ember!" After a moment of Cyndaquil not reacting, Shane's face began to turn red. "Use Ember Cyndaquil!" Nothing. "Ember attack!" He screamed, but his Pokémon wouldn't do anything.

Daisy had a smirk on her face. "Nelly, throw it into the air with Vine Whip!" Ivysaur complied, gripping Cyndaquil around the waist and flinging it into the air. "Follow up with Razor Leaf!" Ivysaur followed Daisy's orders and sent razor sharp leaves into the air, all of them nailing Cyndaquil, knocking it around now that it couldn't dodge.

"Ember!" Shane pleaded. His face was beat red, and Blaze couldn't tell if it was anger, embarrassment, or a mix of both. "Cyndaquil, please, just use Ember." This time, Cyndaquil did as was told, and flames shot down towards Ivysaur.

"Crap! Dodge it!" Daisy called, Ivysaur dodging the main attack just in time, but some of the flames that burst sideways when the actual attack hit the ground hit Ivysaur in the side, making it roll. "You okay Nelly?" Seeing Ivysaur stand up, shaking the hit off, Daisy smiled. "Good, now use Take Down once it lands!"

"Cyndaquil, you have to try to dodge it!" As Cyndaquil fell, though, it had no choice but to take the hit, and when it did, it went flying. As it skidded to a stop, he whined, trying to get up. "Come on, you can do it," Shane encouraged it. Cyndaquil slowly rose to its feet, panting as it did so.

"Nelly, it's almost done! End this with a Tackle!" Ivysaur began running at Cyndaquil, who was struggling just to stay up. Blaze was worried whether Cyndaquil could take another hit and glanced to the scoreboard, where Daisy had lost a few points, and Shane was down below a third of his original points.

"Use Quick Attack to dodge Cyndaquil, and hurry!" Shane called to his Pokémon, but Cyndaquil wasn't fast enough. Instead, it took the Tackle, tumbling backwards until it stopped, unable to stand anymore.

"Cyndaquil is unable to battle!" The announcer shouted as the crowd cheered. "We will take another short break for Daisy to heal her Pokémon, and then the finals will commence!"

"She lucked out," Blaze sighed, looking to Wavery.

"I don't think so. I think she knew what she was doing," Wavery disagreed. "She executed each attack precisely, and only got a little choked up when Cyndaquil used Ember."

"I don't know," Blaze let off a sigh, "She still has to take down Chimchar if she plans on winning this."

"Have some faith!" Wavery punched him in the arm. "Daisy's obviously not incompetent!"

Blaze was about to make a comeback, but the announcer broke him off. "We will take a very short, two minute, break before the final round begins! Please stay seated!"

"Daisy is Oak's granddaughter. If anyone here has even a chance to beat Connor, it's Daisy Oak." Wavery's voice seemed confident. Confident enough to shut Blaze up. Wavery looked to him and winked after a moment, "Stop worrying, she's got this!"

"Our finalists in this contest are Connor Feenore and Daisy Oak! Please give them a round of applause for making it this far!" The crowd erupted once the announcer was done speaking. Daisy waved, smiling brightly. Blaze glanced to Connor though, and frowned. Connor was calm and collected, not even looking at the audience, let alone waving to them.

_What's this guy's deal? He acts like it's a disgrace to be seen here!_ The more Blaze learned about this guy, the more he disliked him. The screen commenced the start again, and both Chimchar and Ivysaur were out in a flash. Blaze was tense, and he could see Wavery was too, even though she had been confident a moment ago. "What happened to the enthusiasm?" he joked. He stopped though from the death stare he received from her. Paying attention to the arena again, he took a deep breath. _You can do this Daisy. Just focus._

"Let the battle begin!" the announcer cried as the scoreboard flashed 'GO!' momentarily.

"Chimchar!" Connor called while throwing his Pokéball into the air, Chimchar emerging from the red light that flooded out of it. The chimp Pokémon stood in a pose that could only mean it was eager to take down Daisy's Pokémon.

"Nelly, win this for me!" Daisy called in reply to Connor, Ivysaur slightly growling as it appeared. Nelly seemed eager as well, ready to prove itself to the world that her and Daisy were ready for this challenge.

"M-maybe I was a little over confident," Wavery admitted to Blaze, who could only chuckle and place his hand on the girl's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"I don't think you were. Nelly seems ready for this. Plus, I'm sure Daisy has a plan. As you said, she is Oak's granddaughter!" Smiling, Blaze was feeling doubt as well, but he couldn't show it. He had to believe in Daisy and Nelly. He knew he had to.

"Chimchar, use Nasty Plot!"

_Crud. If his fire attack hits, it'll be over instantly._ "Come on Nelly! You can do this, we know you can!" Blaze cheered.

Daisy's facial expression showed her worry. Blaze could tell she wasn't sure about this battle. "Use Grasswhistle," Daisy called.

"What?" Wavery seemed surprised. "Grasswhistle? Ivysaur can't know that, it doesn't learn that move!" Blaze watched as she whipped out her Pokédex, though he was also paying attention to the battle, which Nelly has used one of the four leaves coming from under its bulb to whistle a soft melody, and by the end Chimchar had fallen asleep. "I knew it!" Blaze's attention was back on Wavery as she began to speak again. "Ivysaur doesn't learn Grasswhistle, but it's an egg move, so Daisy must have had Professor Oak breed it especially for her! What a sneaky devil!" Wavery was laughing with relief, which made Blaze chuckle some too.

Blaze looked towards Connor now. _The cocky bastard can't still be gung ho now that his Pokémon is asleep!_ Blaze was right, too. Connor was biting his lower lip now, his fist clenched. "Chimchar, wake up!" Chimchar didn't budge though.

"Not so cocky now, eh?" Daisy smirked as her hands were on her lips. It became obvious with her newly found confidence that she had doubted that the move would work, but since it did she knew she had the advantage. "Nelly, use Vine Whip to lift Chimchar into the air, then use Razor Leaf!" Nelly complied, doing as told, and even as the leaves smacked it across the face, Chimchar continued to nap.

Connor was throwing a fit, it seemed. "Chimchar! Wake up you useless Pokémon!" Chimchar didn't budge, though, continuing to take hits as Connor's points plummeted.

The crowd grumbled at first, but by the end were cheering "Go, go, go," with Blaze and Wavery as Connor's points continued to fall.

"Finish it off with Take Down!" Daisy cried. Blaze watched as Nelly used the vines that were holding Chimchar to bring the fire Pokémon towards it, while charging herself. When the two Pokémon came in contact, Nelly let go of Chimchar, who was sent flying across the stage, hitting the back wall and falling to the ground.

The crowd cheered, they loved the one-sided match. "Connor has lost all of his points, and a minute hasn't even passed! Daisy Oak is the winner!" The crowd's cheers raised to an uproar. "As the winner, the Kanto Official Pokémon Contest Organization would like to award Daisy Oak with her very first Contest ribbon, the Viridian ribbon!" The crowd's uproar got even louder as Daisy accepted the ribbon, placing it in a small, sleek silver box, large enough to hold the other four ribbons she'd have to win to compete in the Grand Festival.

While Daisy waved, as did Nelly with a single vine, Blaze and Wavery couldn't wipe the grins from their faces as they cheered with the crowd. "I can't believe she did it!" Blaze yelled loud enough for Wavery to hear it.

"Don't tell her that!" Wavery smirked, looking to Blaze for a quick second before back down at Daisy.

* * *

Daisy was sitting alone in the locker rooms, looking at Nelly who was in front of her. "We did it, Nelly," she sighed, "We won our first Contest!" Blaze and Wavery walked in then, clapping loudly since no one else was there.

"Amazing job Daisy," Wavery smiled at her friend.

"It was awesome! You totally destroyed that cocky bastard," Blaze pitched in.

"It was nothing," Daisy smiled, "Really. I wasn't even sure it would work, I must've had Lady Luck on my side today."

"Lady Luck, eh? Well, if that was all it was, I won't feel bad about losing then. Especially to a novice like you." Connor was standing in the door way. "I guess I underestimated you, Oak. I should've known the granddaughter to the famous Professor would be skilled, even when facing a type disadvantage. I just never expected you to have specially requested your Pokémon come with an egg move. A mistake I'll never make again. Next time we meet under the same circumstances as today, you're getting destroyed." Turning and walking away, Connor didn't allow any comments.

"What an ass," Wavery sighed, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. Next time you'll beat him too!"

Blaze hadn't turned from watching Connor. Something about that guy gave him the chills. _Thankfully, I'm not that cocky. _"What did he mean by 'egg move?'"

Daisy sighed, pulling out her Pokéball and sending Ivysaur back. "An egg move is a move that Pokémon don't normally learn in their lifetime, but can be born with if the female is bred with the right male. Using Nelly as an example, Ivysaur's family of evolutions don't normally learn Grasswhistle, but my grandpa bred a female Venusaur staying at his lab with a male Pokémon that would still produce offspring with the Venusaur that did know Grasswhistle. Because of this, the technique used to execute Grasswhistle was in baby Nelly's blood, allowing her to use Grasswhistle." Blaze nodded in understanding. "I'm sure the list of egg moves for each Pokémon are under their entry in the Pokédex," Daisy offered as she rose to her feet.

"I'll have to check it out later. Apparently you have no way of telling if a Pokémon knows a specific egg move until you catch it and check its specific info in the Pokédex, or until the move gets used on you, right?" Blaze was curious. If he had known that, he might have mailed Oak a letter about it.

"Right," Daisy concluded as they walked out. "By the way, are we staying here another night?"

"Might as well," Wavery pitched in. "It's not like we want to go through Viridian Forest at night, right?"

"Correct," Blaze smiled. "The forest could be spooky, so we might want to go through while it's day. Plus, I can go get information on the Pokémon Gym here to see when it'll be opening!"

"Good idea," Daisy and Wavery chimed at the same time, their voices a perfect harmony, making Blaze smile.

"Off to the PokéCenter, then!" Blaze smiled as they marched out of the Contest Hall.


End file.
